Mondas
by The Threat
Summary: After the events of my earlier story, 'Narnia', our heroes find themselves in a new and, if possible, stranger world.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: not one character used here is mine.

* * *

I looked at my two companions as we flew through this... tunnel. I had no other word for it. How do you call something that seemed to give off every color, and yet no color you know? Something that seemed to take you everywhere into every reality, and yet in itself didn't exist anywhere at all? It was something I didn't fully understand, and neither did my companions, so each had their own reaction to what was happening. The guy with a blue scarf and red shirt, who called himself Merlin, he looked in wonder around him. While I was scared of the dimension we were in, he seemed completely in awe about it. It was like everything he saw was somehow beautiful. The girl in the sailor-like outfit, carrying a sword, who called herself Saya, squinted her eyes, and kept her arms crossed during the whole trip. It was as if she was bored with what was going on.

After a long time, a hole opened up, and all three of us fell through. Unlike the last time this happened, I didn't land on the soft moss of the forest, rather I fell on the hard metal of the street. Metal? I thought to myself that streets are made of... all sorts of material, but metal wasn't one of them. Still, this made for a much smoother spot to land on, so at least we didn't get scratched.  
"That was incredible." Merlin said.  
"You're easily impressed, aren't you." Saya didn't sound like she was asking.  
"Come now, Saya, can you honestly say you've ever lived through something like this before?" Merlin asked.  
"More than I would like." she replied.  
I looked at my timer. It read 00:12:38:15. I showed my two friends.  
"Oh..." Merlin sounded sad, "We have twelve hours before the next ride. That's a shame."  
"Where are we anyway?" Saya asked.  
All three of us looked around. Much like the street we landed on, every building around us seemed to be made of either metal or plastic. But what was stranger than what we saw around us, was what wasn't anywhere. Traffic signs, gutters, no sewer-entries, no trees or any kind of plants, no stray animals, no cars,... We were in a city, and it seemed completely abandoned. That was until we heard some heavy footsteps coming toward us.  
"I hear some people approaching, we can ask them." Merlin said just before he ran from us.  
"Merlin, wait!" Saya ran to stop him.  
Not one of us had to go anywhere, as the people we heard just appeared around the corner. Most of them looked almost the same. They were gray, had three holes in their faces (two for the eyes and one for the mouth), looked like walking tanks, and either carried their guns, or had guns on their wrists. With them were what looked like pale and bald people in black electrical suits. There were more, but I stopped looking when I recognized one of them. It looked like a robot with a shiny armor, and had a red light in its visor that went from left to right. Remembering who they were with, I hid myself behind Saya.  
"What's the matter with you?" she asked me.  
"What are you afraid of?" Merlin asked, upon which I heard a shift in his tone: "You? Why would he be afraid of you?"  
"Identify yourself." one of them said.  
It was an electrical voice. One that sounded almost ghost-like.  
"I asked you first." Merlin responded.  
"You will identify yourselves." that same voice replied, "Or we will be authorized to use force."  
"STEP BACK!" I heard Merlin shout, accompanied by what sounded like a ring, followed by the clanging of metal against metal. With this, I got up from behind Saya.  
"There was that language again." she said, "What is that?"  
"Just an ancient language of my world's old religion." Merlin explained.  
Again, I found myself wondering how I could understand his words without realizing he was speaking a different language.  
Merlin walked up to me: "You recognized them?"  
I nodded.  
"Are they with that Army?"  
I nodded again.  
"Good." Saya said, "We found another base. Let's wreck it."  
"Er... that might not be as easy." Merlin said.  
As he spoke, I heard several more footsteps. From every building around us, more of these gray men were appearing. All of them were of the same type, with those three holes in their faces. All of them raised their guns.  
"Merlin, whatever you did, you better do that again." Saya said.  
"I can't." he said.  
"What?"  
"Lay down your weapons." that same ghost-like voice sounded.  
"You two better hide." Saya said as she drew her sword.  
She ran at these people. All of them tried to shoot at her, but she was too fast for them, they either missed her, or accidentally hit each other. Saya, in turn, used her sword to cut her way through these people, or to cut their heads off. I couldn't understand how a girl of that size could do what she did. So fascinated was I at the sight of this, I didn't realize the others were closing in on us until one of them had grabbed my arms. Two more did the same with Merlin, who mumbled something, and I could see his eyes glowing like before, only this time nothing happened.  
"Seize and desist, or we will kill these two." one of the men holding us spoke.  
Saya turned to see what happened to us. That look in her eyes told us she was annoyed at what was happening, but she knew she had no choice. She dropped her sword, and let the others grab hold of her.  
"This one has powers we do not know." one of the men holding Merlin said, "We should upgrade him."  
"This humanoid scans as an anomaly." another one spoke, "She may not respond well to upgrading."  
"But she may be an interesting subject for experimenting." another one spoke.  
"Wait!" a completely new voice cried.  
The ones holding us turned to look at who spoke. This time, we saw a just a regular man. He looked to be in his thirties, had bowl-cut hair, and a face that you would listen to even if you didn't like the way he looked. He was accompanied by five guards, who seemed similarly armored like these metal men, except their suits were black, and resembled cougars more than anything else.  
"You Cybermen are so quick to upgrade everything into what you are." the man spoke, "But there may yet be a different use for them."  
He spoke with a distorted voice. I instantly remembered having heard that sort of voice before. I started having difficulty breathing. I tried to run away, but these metal men (Cybermen, as they seemed to be called) kept me where I stood. This other man noticed the way I reacted to him.  
"You have encountered my kind before, have you not?" he spoke to me directly.  
"Leave him alone!" Merlin threatened.  
"Or else?" he didn't seem intimidated by Merlin's threat.  
Merlin sank his head, clearly unable to reply.  
"I don't believe this." Saya grumbled.  
"I assume you have a prison-cell somewhere?" the man said, "Hold them there."


	2. Chapter 2

The three of us were held in a room. Aside from the silver metal, there was no color in the room. No window, only one opening for a door, and it had a force field keeping us inside. And even if it malfunctioned, one Cyberman was guarding the door. They took my dagger and timer again, so I had nothing to defend myself with, nor could we get out of this cell. It seemed like our adventure in Narnia was repeating itself. There was no bed or chair, so I could only sit in a corner, watch my two companions fight each other. Saya's sword was taken away, so she was forced to fight with words.  
"Why didn't you do anything before?" Saya cried at him.  
"I tried." Merlin replied, "But my magic doesn't work in this world as well as it does in my own."  
Saya raised a brow at that, so Merlin explained: "Magic doesn't exist in every world. And even in the few that it does, it sometimes works differently in than in my own world. So I either have to adapt to that magic, or I have to rely on whatever little power I can muster."  
"So you're completely useless here?"  
"Not completely." Merlin assured her, "I just used too much at one time. If I rest, I should be able to try again later, but it'll take some time."  
"So what are we supposed to do until then?" Saya asked, "Sit here and wait for them to... "upgrade" us?"  
"I don't like it any more than you do." Merlin replied, "You at least have your strength. I'm just vulnerable without my magic."  
"But I can't work as efficient with my hands as I can with my sword." Saya retorted.  
I wished there was something I could do, but I was even more useless than either one were without their sword or magic. Suddenly, we heard a group of people walk down the corridor. Their footsteps sounded heavy, but not metallic, so we knew they weren't Cybermen. One voice spoke to the Cyberman guarding us.  
"Let me talk to the prisoners." I recognized the distorted voice immediately, "My Kull Warriors will guard them."  
"Understood." the Cyberman replied and walked away.  
The force field was taken down, and that man from before walked in, accompanied by two of those black armored men of his, that he called Kull Warriors.  
"What do you want?" Saya demanded.  
"An eager one, aren't you." the man replied.  
"Who are you?" Merlin asked.  
"My name is Tanith." he replied, "And I'm here to make you an offer."  
"Join your ranks or die?" Saya questioned, "Heard it before."  
"You're almost correct." the man (Tanith) replied, "You can join me, or join them."  
He pointed to the ceiling. What did he mean by that?  
"You're not one of them?" Merlin asked.  
"I am and I am not." Tanith answered.  
"Why don't you start making sense?" Saya was getting impatient.  
Tanith nodded: "As you are aware, Smith's Army either reprograms their subjects, or rewrites their brains, so that they become one of them."  
"Smith's Army?" Merlin questioned, "Who is this Smith?"  
"He was a virus-program that invaded a computer network in his own world." Tanith explained, "Until someone stopped him. He narrowly survived by downloading himself into a machine, and disconnecting it from the entire network. When that world was invaded by Cylons, they took this machine with them, connected it to their ship, and accidentally let him into their networks.  
"Wait, what's a Cylon?" Merlin asked.  
"You've seen them." Tanith explained, "They're the ones with the red eye, that keep moving from one side to the other."  
With his finger he mimicked the movement, so to make his point clear. And so I finally found out what those robots were called.  
"Of course the one you saw was from another world." Tanith continued, "The ones that stole Smith's machine were from the world that have Cylons that resemble humans."  
So there were several worlds that had Cylons? The thought scared me more than Tanith did at that moment.  
"These Cylons connected the machine to their own networks, and it didn't take long before their entire race got infected. And a short time after, they met with the Wraith, a race from my own world who feed on humans."  
I was so freaked by the way he said that, I almost stopped listening to everything else he was saying. He talked about a kind of people that feeds on humans like he was talking about something he watched on a nature documentary.  
"In feeding themselves with the human Cylons, they eventually got infected themselves." Tanith continued, "And since the Wraith communicate telepathically, the Smith virus found a new way to infect others. It didn't take long before the entire Wraith race was infected. And it took even less time before the virus found its way to the Goa'uld. My people."  
"So you're not infected?" Saya asked.  
"My host is." Tanith replied, "I, however, remain intact."  
His host? I remembered thinking to myself that the first time I met someone like him, he looked and acted like he was possessed by a demon. By the sounds of it, I was right.  
"So you're not one of them, and yet you're walking among them as though you were?" Merlin asked.  
"Never heard of infiltration?" Tanith asked him, "As long as they believe I'm one of them, I can destroy the Army from the inside."  
"Somebody already tried that." Merlin brought up, "He obviously failed."  
"Indeed." Tanith said, "We don't understand it either. The only one we can think of that could have stopped the Army is dead. Still, whoever it was left a huge enough dent. If this is what one man could do, imagine what a whole group of us can do."  
"How can we infiltrate them?" Saya questioned, "We didn't even know about that Smith-virus until you told us about him."  
"That is quite easy." he answered, "I have a few Goa'uld symbiotes with me, all of whom are aware of the situation. All you have to do is be their hosts, and you'll know..."  
"Hang on!" Merlin said, "Be their hosts? You mean be possessed by them?"  
"Why should that bother you?" Tanith questioned, "We have knowledge beyond your understanding. We can help you find a way to use your power everywhere you please, whenever you please."  
"Except it won't be me using the power." Merlin said.  
"We're fighting against the Army because we don't want others to control us." Saya said, "What makes you think we want to join you instead?"  
Tanith made a bow: "Very well. How about an incentive."  
He looked at me when he said that. I started to shiver as his eyes fell on me.  
"What do you mean?" Merlin asked, as Tanith started toward me.  
Saya tried to stop him, but his Kull Warriors raised their arms. A buzzing sound came from their wrists, telling us they were powering their weapons. I heard Saya growl as she backed down.  
Tanith stood before me. I got to my feet, hoping I could run away if I had to, but as he stood there, I lost all will to try.  
"What's your name?" he asked.  
"Don't bother." Saya said, "He can't talk."  
"Can't he?" he didn't believe her, then addressed me again, "You were carrying around a small device. It had numbers on them, counting down. What does it mean?"  
It seemed odd to me that he would ask. I thought he had seen machines before that could take him from one world into another. He cocked his head as he watched me. He placed his hand on my chin, examined my head more closely. His eyes lit up as he finished. My body was shaking even worse than before.  
"He's deceiving you." Tanith spoke, "He can talk very well."  
"It's just shock." Merlin explained, "We don't know what happened to him, but he hasn't said a word since we met him."  
"In that case I shall have to use other means." Tanith said.  
"You leave him alone!" Saya screamed.  
With Tanith standing in front of me, I couldn't see what was going on, but I heard Saya's footsteps, followed by what sounded like a "whoosh", after which Saya cried in pain, Merlin shouted her name, and Saya claimed she just got scratched.  
Tanith turned to one of the Kull Warriors: "You! Take him."  
The Kull Warrior walked up to me, grabbed my arms and dragged me out of the room. As I was carried out, I saw Merlin bent over Saya, who was holding her shoulder, which was somehow smoking, as if on fire. Both looked at me, Merlin worried and Saya disappointed. And that was the last I saw of them before I was taken out of the room, the force field was turned on again, and I was dragged to another place.


	3. Chapter 3

They dragged me to a room that was on a higher floor. I only knew this because we used an elevator to go up, but as we left it, the corridor looked exactly the same as the one we left. They forced me inside the third room on the left. There, there were two tables. One had some kind of machine placed on it, but I couldn't see what the machine was, as it was covered in a dirty rag. The other table was empty. One of the Kull Warriors pushed me onto that table, where I laid down on my back. Tanith must have pressed a button once I was down, because these metal clamps came up and fastened themselves around my wrists, ankles, neck and waist. I was forced to look up, where I saw something hanging. I didn't know what it was, but it had many mechanical arms, some of which held knives, saws, and what looked like metal plates.  
"This room is normally used to upgrade humans into Cybermen." Tanith explained, "It should be fitting to implant you with a symbiote here."  
I started gasping for breath when he said that. I had no real idea of what it meant to be "implanted", but I have seen how people act when they are. I remembered how a man named Quinn, who helped me and others to escape an exploding base, and yet when that was over, he turned against the survivors. He turned against me, and... he turned against Snow White. Just the memory of her dying in my arms because of him was painful. I could still see his eyes light up as he spoke, I could hear him speak with a voice that wasn't his. It was the same sort of light and the same sort of voice that Tanith used. Remembering only too well what it meant for Quinn, and how it cost Snow White's life, why should I at all be keen on letting him do what he wants to do.  
"There's no need to be afraid." Tanith said, "You will live long past your natural life. Maybe even forever."  
So I either die as me, or live forever as someone else.  
"You." he turned to one of the Kull Warriors, "Go to my personal quarters, and fetch me a...  
He couldn't finish his sentence, as something pulled him back.  
"You want your master to live, you let him go."  
The voice that said that sounded electrical, but instead of the monotonous tone of the Cybermen, this one sounded like it belonged to an actual person.  
"Shoot him!" Tanith commanded.  
"Do that, and you'll hit him." that electronic voice warned them.  
"I can always leave my host." Tanith warned him.  
"I have my arm wrapped around you neck, I can break you before you attempt to leave." the voice continued.  
Tanith tried not to growl: "Release him!"  
One of the Kull Warriors pressed the button that released the clamps on me. The second I could move, I got up and looked at Tanith. I couldn't believe what I saw. That thing that was covered with a rag, I thought it was just a machine, but now it looked like it had two arms and a head. That head had a real face, not just holes like the Cybermen. His left arm, which was missing a hand, was wrapped around Tanith's neck.  
"Take their weapons." the Machine-Man told me.  
I looked at the two Warriors. As far as I could see, they didn't have any weapons.  
"On their wrists." the Machine-Man said, "Take them off."  
The two Warriors raised their arms and pointed them at me.  
"Shoot, and your master dies!" the Machine-Man shouted.  
"You'll be severely punished for this." Tanith warned him.  
"We'll see." the Machine-Man replied.  
The Kull Warriors stood still. This gave me the chance to take their weapons. I pulled off their gloves.  
"Give me one." the Machine-Man said, "And put one on yourself."  
I did as I was told by putting one of the Warriors' gloves on the Machine-Man's right hand. Wearing it, he raised his arm and aimed it at the Kull Warriors.  
"Remove your masks." he told them, and they did so, only to be shot in their faces by their own weapon. The Machine-Man then let go of Tanith, and shot him in his belly. He fell down, smoke still coming from there where he was shot. I suddenly understood what happened to Saya earlier, and felt relieved that Tanith got what he deserved.  
"What's your name." the Machine-Man asked me.  
I raised my shoulders.  
"Never mind." he said, "You see that gurney over there? Help me onto that."  
I did as he told me. It was the least I could do for the... thing that saved my life. I dragged the gurney to the table, and helped him crawl onto it (I tried carrying him, but he was too heavy).  
"I have a plan that might stop this planet from invading another world."  
This planet from invading? What did he mean by that?  
"Did you arrive here by yourself?" he asked me, and I shook my head, "How many more?"  
I raised two fingers.  
"Take me to them." he told me.  
I didn't know where to take him. I knew we took the elevator to get to this floor, but I didn't know what floor we started from. I would hope this man knew more than I did.

I pushed the gurney up to the elevator, where I pressed the button to bring it to us. The doors opened, and we both went in. The Machine-Man pressed a button, which took us down. If he had been here for a long time, it would make sense that he knew where prisoners were kept. Eventually, the elevator arrived at a floor, where one Cyberman was standing guard at one door. It turned to look at us.  
"How did you get..."  
It couldn't finish its sentence, as the Machine-Man shot its mouth. It stopped the Cyberman from talking, but not from walking. It raised its hands, but the Machine-Man fired again. He didn't hit the Cyberman, but he did hit the machine that kept up the force-field. With that down, Merlin jumped out of his cell, and wrapped his arms around the Cyberman's head. It may not have done much to damage the Cyberman, but at least he was distracted.  
"Friend of yours?" the Machine-Man asked, and I nodded.  
"Murphy?" I heard Saya's voice, "Is that you?"  
The Machine-Man had that look of recognition on his face. Did he know Saya?  
"Take me closer." he said.  
I pushed the gurney toward our cell. Once we were close enough, the Machine-Man could punch the Cyberman through his chest, instantly stopping it from moving.  
"What happened to you?" for once, Saya sounded worried.  
The Machine-Man turned his head to look at Saya, and I looked at her too. She still had her left hand placed on her right shoulder, as if she was still hurt.  
"You survived." the Machine-Man said.  
"It takes more to kill me." she replied.  
"You two know each other?" Merlin asked.  
"We've met." she replied.  
"I'm Officer Alex J. Murphy." the Machine-Man said, "Sometimes called Robocop."  
Saya tried to get up, which didn't look easy for her.  
"Are you hurt?" the Machine-Man, Murphy, asked her.  
"I'll live." she said, "What happened to you?"  
"It's a long story, and we don't have time for that."  
"Why is that?" Merlin asked him.  
"I know a way to destroy this planet, but it can only work when they travel again." Murphy explained, "Which can happen any time soon."  
"Don't planets always travel?" Saya asked.  
"Not like this one." Murphy explained.  
"But we can't go yet." Merlin said, "They took my bag, Saya's sword, and his portal-machine."  
"I know where they keep confiscated items." Murphy said, "Take me back there."  
He pointed to the elevator, and we did exactly that.


	4. Chapter 4

The four of us entered the elevator, where Murphy pressed a button, taking us up. On our way up, Murphy asked: "How did you get here?"  
"I was about to ask you the same thing." Saya replied, "I thought you died."  
"I almost did." Murphy explained, "But these people think we're more valuable to them alive."  
"But they didn't convert you?" Merlin asked him.  
"They tried." Murphy answered, "By any means necessary."  
He lifted his left arm, the one with a hand missing. Though I didn't fully understand how removing his hand, and possibly his legs too, would turn him into one of them, just the thought that they'd go so far was sickening to hear.  
"How could they fail? They always succeeded." Saya couldn't understand it.  
"Many have tried and failed before they came along." Murphy explained.  
"Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger, eh?" Merlin smiled.  
"You said you know how to destroy this planet?" Saya brought up.  
"Yes." Murphy remembered, "Do you know why the Cybermen exist?"  
Saya and Merlin shook their heads, so Murphy explained: "They were humanoid once, but their planet fell out of orbit, bringing them out of reach of the sun."  
Merlin shivered: "Must have gotten cold for them."  
"Not just cold." Murphy explained, "Life became impossible."  
"So they created synthetic bodies to survive." Saya understood that much.  
Murphy couldn't say anything, as the elevator stopped just then. He raised his weapon, but there was nobody waiting for us.  
"We're in luck." Murphy said, "That Cyberman mustn't have had the time to warn anyone. This way."  
He pointed us to the right direction, which we followed. On our way to the room that keeps our stuff, we didn't meet one Cyberman. Or a Kull Warrior. Or a Cylon. Or one of those pale people in black mechanical suits. We were so lucky, I let out a relieved sigh as we found the room. Of course it had to be behind a strong door, but Murphy's hand was enough to punch through it, so we could enter. There, we searched for our things.  
"So what's your plan?" Saya asked Murphy.  
"As I tried to say earlier..." Murphy continued, "... with their planet out of orbit, they felt too vulnerable. So they converted it into a ship too."  
"So that's what you meant when you said it traveled." Merlin understood.  
"And once they became part of this new alliance, they got the technology to travel to other universes as well." Murphy added.  
"That's very interesting and all." Saya admitted, "But how does that help us?"  
"I heard stories of an alternate version of Mondas." Murphy said.  
"Mondas... Is that what this world is called?" Merlin asked.  
"It's what this planet is called." Murphy answered, "In any case, that other version tried to drain all the energy from Earth. But their reactors overloaded as a result, and that Mondas exploded."  
I felt relieved to hear that, as it meant there was one army of Cybermen less to worry about.  
"What are you saying? We have to sacrifice a planet to blow this one up?" Saya asked.  
"What I'm saying is that energy is this planet's primary weakness." Murphy said, "And every time it tries to travel to another world, it needs lots of it to achieve a wormhole."  
"A wormhole?" Merlin didn't know the word.  
"He means a portal." Saya explained.  
"A portal for an entire planet?" Merlin looked aghast at the thought, "Is that possible?"  
"With enough power, it might be." Murphy answered, "And that's where we come in."  
"How's that?" Merlin asked.  
"If we shut down some of their generators, the next time they try to open a portal, they'll be asking their machines to create more energy than they can manage. They will overheat, and eventually explode."  
"Taking Mondas with it?" Saya asked.  
"Sounds good." Merlin said, "But wouldn't that kill us too?"  
"There's a ship we can use to escape before that happens." Murphy said.  
Saya had found her sword, which she checked first, then put it back in its sheath: "Then we have no time to lose."  
It was good to see that she had her sword again. I found my dagger before Merlin found his bag. But the timer... I searched every corner, every space in the room, but I couldn't find it.  
"What's wrong?" Murphy asked me.  
"Where's the portal-machine?" Merlin wondered.  
I raised my hands as a way of saying I don't know.  
"Didn't Tanith ask him about the machine?" Saya remembered, "He seemed very curious about it."  
"You think he has it?" Merlin panicked.  
"Who is this Tanith?" Murphy asked.  
Before anybody could answer, we heard heavy footsteps coming our way. Murphy turned his head toward the door.  
"Quickly, hide beside the door!" Murphy ordered us.  
Merlin ran to the left side of the door, and pressed himself against it. Only just out of sight for everyone looking inside. I followed his example by standing next to him. Saya hid herself at the right side, and took Murphy with her. The footsteps stopped at our door.  
"We know you're in there." I recognized a Cylon's voice, "There's only one door in and out. There is no escape."  
I should have known this was too easy. The reason we didn't meet any of them on our way to this room, was because they were letting us come here. They hoped they could surround us in this room, with no way out. I saw Merlin move his lips to Saya, but I couldn't see what he was saying. Saya mouthed something back to him, that looked like "I don't know."


	5. Chapter 5

A metallic man walked into the room, but I saw the red light of his eye before he himself could be seen. I already knew it was a Cylon before I saw him. Still wearing that Kull weapon on his wrist, Murphy shot him. The Cylon was hit on the head, which exploded. Before it hit the ground, two Cybermen walked into the room. Saya stabbed her sword through both of their heads at once. With those two dead, she pushed them back into the doorway, blocking the way for the others.  
"Resistance is futile." one voice I had never heard before said, "You either let us assimilate you, or you will die in that room. Those are your only two options."  
Whoever spoke, he was right. Those Cyberman-bodies could only hold them out for so long. But that wasn't the worst part. Saya hadn't fully recovered from that shot in her shoulder. I could tell just holding them there became too much for her. Merlin tried picking up the Cylon body, hoping it would help enforce this blockade, but that became too much for him to try. But then I saw something else. The Cylon had a gun with him. I decided to pick that gun up, aimed it at the wall opposite the door, and fired a few shots. It only created a few holes in the wall, but that was all I needed. I still wore a Kull weapon of my own, which I aimed at that wall, which broke into pieces easily.  
"What's happening there?" another voice spoke, and though I didn't recognize it, it did sound familiar.  
"Grenades!" Murphy shouted, pointing out something.  
We all looked. There were what looked like metal balls with black circles on them. Those were grenades? Where did they come from? As I looked, I noticed they were among the debris of the wall I just destroyed. Through that wall, I saw weapons stored up. So I shot our way into their weapons-room.  
"Press one of those circles and toss it to the other side." Murphy told us.  
"Did they find the armory?" a Cyberman asked as he heard our conversation.  
"Better than nothing." Merlin said, as he picked up some of these grenades. He pressed one of the circles on one of them, and tossed it over the two dead Cybermen. He did the same with every other grenade he found. What happened then, I couldn't see, but from the sound of it, it wasn't an explosion. It sounded like electric crackling, followed by the murmurings of... I have no idea.  
"Anaroids." a Cyberman shouted, "Shoot them."  
Anaroids? Merlin tossed grenades at them, and they see something called Anaroids? If only those dead Cybermen didn't block my view, I could have seen what was going on.  
"That should buy us some time." Murphy said, "Run."  
Saya took her sword out of the Cybermen, grabbed Murphy's gurney, and all of us ran into the weapons-room.  
When we were in the next room, Saya spoke: "They're probably already on their way to this room. Now what?"  
"How did you know this?" Merlin turned to me.  
I looked back at him, and he asked even further: "How did you know what you did would work on that wall?"  
I looked away from him. In truth, I didn't know. In fact, I didn't even know how I knew how to use that Cylon gun.  
"Never mind that." Murphy said, "At least we now know it is possible. You, shoot the floor around us."  
I did as he asked me. I shot a circle around the four of us. When that was done, the floor sank down beneath us. We landed on the next floor, I almost broke my knees as we did.  
"Take cover." Murphy told us, as he himself aimed his Kull weapon. Merlin, Saya and I ducked, and we heard him fire a shot. An explosion sounded, and I could feel the heat of it burning my back.  
"Now, let's get off this floor." Murphy ordered us.  
"Where to?" Saya asked him, "This building will be swarming with these people soon."  
"Not necessarily." Merlin said, as he looked around the floor we were on.  
I looked around too. It looked like were surrounded by more of these Cybermen, but none of them were moving. It took me a while to realize that the reason they didn't move was because there was nobody inside them.


	6. Chapter 6

"That has to be the dumbest idea you ever had." Saya said, after hearing Merlin's idea.  
"Why?" Merlin asked, "They think we're not converted yet, so they wouldn't suspect us."  
"But if they are as advanced as Murphy is, they'll have their ways of seeing through our disguises."  
"Not if you use older models." Murphy suggested.  
"Older models?" Merlin asked.  
"The older models of Cybermen are closer to humans than their current models." Murphy explained, "If you disguise yourselves as these older models, they'll scan you, and just think they made a mistake."  
"We?" Saya asked, "What about you?"  
"I have no functioning legs, so a disguise won't help me." Murphy said, "If they should ask, you just tell them I told you to leave me behind so you could save yourselves."  
I can't say I liked the plan much at all, but since we were running out of time, I started running, looking for older models.  
"Where are you going?" Saya shouted after me.  
"He must be doing what you should be doing." Murphy answered.  
I didn't hear Saya say anything, but I did see her run after me and start the search.

After a while, we found ourselves three suits. Not much could be said about these suits. Their faces seemed to look more like ski-masks than anything else, were made of whatever remained from toasters, and for some reason they would still let people have their own hands. These versions seemed to carry something that looked like a TV-sized flashlight around their necks, which were too heavy for us to carry. Even for Saya, who seemed to be growing weaker every second. When we were fully dressed up, we returned to Murphy, and dragged him along with us.  
"Where do we go?" Merlin asked him, his voice somehow sounding more mechanical through his Cyberman mask.  
Before Murphy could answer, the doors opened. A group of five Cybermen entered.  
"What has happened here?" one of them asked.  
A short pause, as it expected an answer. Saya was the one to talk: "We found these rioters here."  
"Where are they now?" was the next question.  
"We tried to capture them, but this one..." Saya explained, pointing to Murphy, "... told them to leave him behind."  
"Humans seem so eager to sacrifice themselves." the Cyberman said, "I cannot understand how they have managed to survive for as long as they have."  
"Take us to the nearest ship." Merlin suddenly burst out with this.  
"Why?" one of the Cybermen asked.  
"Because... this man is the one that instigated their revolt." Merlin sounded like he was making this up at the spot, "If he were gone, this won't happen again."  
"And you don't remember where to find a ship?" the Cyberman didn't seem to believe Merlin.  
"Those other three may still think they can save their friend." Saya said, "We could use your assistance."  
"I thought he told them to leave him behind."  
I hoped they couldn't scan the sweat that must have started to ooze all over my body.  
"Wait." one of the other Cybermen said, "Humans don't always do as they are told, do they?"  
"He's right." another agreed, "Just because they were told to leave their companion behind, it does not mean that they will."  
"There is some logic in that." the Cyberman agreed, "We will escort you."

It didn't feel right to be going anywhere, while escorted by a small group of Cybermen. Sure, we may have convinced them we were on their side, but how long could that last? Even as we walked, I saw several other Cybermen looking at us, as if they were on to us.  
"I can smell your fear." Saya whispered to me.  
If that was supposed to somehow stop me from being afraid, it didn't work. It only made me worry more and more. At least it did, until we reached a spaceport, where there were lots of ships.  
"You still require our escort?" one of the Cybermen asked.  
"No, we can manage from here." Saya answered.  
"Understood." and with that, the five Cybermen left us.  
"Alright, Murphy." Merlin whispered to him, "Which ship?"  
"Just drag me through here, I'll let you know.


	7. Chapter 7

As the four of us walked through the port, I looked around. There were many ships, many of which I didn't recognize, but some looked like the ones I saw on that space station. One of them even looked like a pyramid, only smaller than the ship I was on before. There, I saw two of those Kull Warriors. They seemed to be at the door of that ship, there way being blocked by two Cybermen. Somewhere between the Kulls and the Cybermen, there was a smaller person, making all kinds of moves, shouting things I couldn't understand. Could it be Tanith? Alive? I wondered how he could survive being shot in the belly, but then I thought that if he is alive, he might know where the timer is. I pulled on Saya's arm to get her attention.  
"What is it?" she asked, after which I pointed at the pyramid-ship.  
Seemingly understanding what I was trying to tell her, she turned to the other two: "You three better get to that ship fast."  
"Why? What are you going to do?" Merlin asked her.  
"Making sure we can leave at all." was all she told us before she turned around and walked up to Tanith and his company.  
Even though we were going where Murphy directed us, I couldn't stop myself from looking at where Saya was going, and what she was doing. She still moved as slowly as she had to, so nobody would think she wasn't a Cyberman. Every few seconds, she turned to look at us. Eventually, Murphy told us: "This is it."  
We stopped at what looked like a train, except it wasn't on any rails, it didn't have those special wheels that trains have, but it did have four doors on one side, had what looked like legs to stand on, similar to what you'd see on an airplane, except (again) they had no wheels. On the left side of the first door, I read "Star Tours".  
"Is this a ship?" Merlin couldn't believe it.  
"It was made to transport tourists. It isn't made for battle." Murphy explained, "Which is why it's the perfect ship for us, as nobody will think we would attack them with this."  
"How can you attack them with this if it's not made for battle?" Merlin asked.  
"Because it is equipped with lasers." Murphy explained, "It became necessary, so to avoid the usual dangers of space, like asteroids."  
I couldn't see Merlin's face, so I couldn't guess why he didn't say anything for ten seconds, before replying: "I... I don't know what a laser or an asteroid is, but I suppose you know what you're doing."  
"Glad somebody is." Murphy said, as he pointed behind us.  
We both looked, and we saw one of the Cybermen moving faster than usual, even losing some of his bodyparts. It didn't take long before any of us realized this was Saya, fighting others. As she fought, more Cybermen had started to surround her. Knowing that she was weaker that time, we knew for sure that she couldn't hold on very long.  
"No time to lose. Get inside!" Murphy shouted at us, and we did exactly that.

Inside the ship, there were four rows of seats, enough to fit twenty or so people. At the front, there was not only the windshield, but also a robot, apparently ready to control the ship.  
"Where do you want to go?" it asked.  
It had a high-pitched voice, and yet there was something eerie about the way he said it. Murphy didn't hesitate to raise his wrist and shoot it.  
"What are you doing? He could have helped us control this ship."  
"He was probably already infected by the Smith-virus. I couldn't take the risk." Murphy replied, "Now take me to the controls."  
As fast as we could carry him (the gurney couldn't fit through the door), we brought him to the controls. There, Murphy let what looked like a spike come out of his fist, which he inserted into a slot in the machine. This somehow caused the ship's engine's to start rumbling. Through the windshield, I could see us going up, turn around, until we could see Saya. We then moved toward the fight. As that happened, I felt a strong wind. Of course I did, I soon enough discovered that the door was still open. And a good thing too, because as soon as we flew over the fight, Saya had somehow managed to jump up and crawl inside, through the open door, which closed as soon as she was in.  
"Better hurry up with your plan, Murphy." Saya told him, "I heard them say they're ready for take-off."  
"Thank you." was all Murphy said.


	8. Chapter 8

As we flew over all the Cybermen, the three of us took off our disguises. In case of Saya, she had to get rid of most of her disguise already, since she was fighting a small army of Cybermen earlier. In case of Merlin and me, we needed her help to get out of our suits.  
"So what happened back there?" Merlin asked her.  
"As soon as I got close to Tanith, I could tell he was keeping something in his sleeve." Saya explained, "He could keep his right hand down, but was always careful not to let his left arm down, as if he had something there he didn't want others to know about."  
"You think he had the portal-machine in there?"  
"There was only one way I could know for sure." Saya said, "I feigned a loss of balance and fell on him. As I lay there, I searched his sleeve for the device, while he barked orders at his henchmen. They picked me up, but too soon, as Tanith saw me holding the device, so he ordered his men to kill me. My first reflex was to jump, but the suit was too heavy, so I caught some of their blasts. Luckily I carried this silly thing."  
She pointed at that flashing machine, then continued: "I shot at his Henchmen, and then the two Cybermen. I wanted to shoot Tanith too, but he ran off. More Cybermen started to appear, so I lost him in the crowd."  
"You look alright for someone who got shot." Merlin remarked.  
"I guess my suit caught most of the blasts." Saya explained, "Which was good. It was easier to take off when I started fighting all the others."  
While they were talking, I was looking outside. Murphy was flying us through what looked like several other flying ships, some of which even flew directly toward us, but Murphy somehow managed to dodge every one of them. I had no idea what that spike was, but if that's what created this connection between him and the ship, to a point that he flew it the same way we would use our legs for walking, I was glad that he had it. As that realization came to me, I saw we were flying toward a large formation of ships. All of them were weirdly shaped. Some were gray and looked like they had a red eye like the Cylons, while others were brown and had their eyes at the back instead of the front. At the front of these ships was... a flying ball. As soon as he saw this formation, Murphy lifted the ship up. But instead of just flying over the formation, the ship kept flying up into the sky. As that happened, I felt something pushing me backwards. As the ship rose, the push started to feel more like a pull, which only grew stronger. I had to hold on to one of the instruments to keep myself from falling. Murphy wasn't as lucky. As he rose up, that same force pulled him back too, which also pulled his spike out of the machine, breaking the connection. I could see him falling down, along with Saya and Merlin. When those two hit the back of the ship, they rolled as fast as they could, so they wouldn't be crushed by Murphy.  
"What's happening?" Merlin asked.  
"Artificial gravity is off-line." Murphy explained, "We're being pulled by the planet."  
"I have no idea what that means." Merlin said,  
"He means we have to activate the machines that make us walk like we're on the ground." Saya explained.  
"Which I can't do from here." Murphy added, after which he looked up, "You!"  
He pointed at me. I looked back, not sure how to feel about this.  
"Can you reach the console on the ceiling?" he asked me.  
I looked to my left, where I could see the ceiling. There were a few buttons and levers there, but I wasn't sure how to reach them. But in front of, there was still what was left of the ship's real pilot. I didn't see this at first, but it seemed to be nailed to the floor. This seemed strange to me. If the robot is part of the ship, why not let the ship itself be a robot? In any case, the robot, or what was left of it, was still there. I reached for it as fast as I could. When I did, I could climb from there to the buttons on the ceiling.  
"Good." Murphy said, after which he instructed me on which buttons to press and when. When I did that, I started to feel the ships own gravity pulling us down. Slowly.  
"Well done." Murphy said, "Now help me back there."  
As fast as we could, the three of us carried him back to the console. Once he was connected again, he flew the ship back down. As we fell down, we reached a building.  
"I'm scanning a energy build-up in there." Murphy said, "A massive build-up."  
"Hey, look at that." Merlin pointed at the sky.  
When we looked, a purple circle started to appear in the sky. It was only twice as large as the stars, but that was enough for us to see it.  
"They're already launching themselves into the next world." Saya said.  
"Not for long." Murphy said.  
From our ship, two laserbeams seemed to be shot at the building. They hit, but nothing happened. Just when I was about to wonder what to do now, a huge explosion started inside the building. I'm not sure how, but it caused the building next to it to explode as well. It didn't take long until explosions started happening all around us.  
"It works!" Merlin cheered, "The planet is exploding."  
"I wouldn't be so cheerful yet." Saya said, "Look."  
She showed us the timer. It read 00:10:09:54  
"We have ten hours left before another portal opens?" Merlin panicked.  
"What are you on about?" Murphy asked, "There's one up there."  
Before anyone could ask what he was talking about, Murphy already flew the ship up. As we flew, I saw where we were headed. That purple circle we saw earlier.  
"This portal may be unstable, since it's supposed to become bigger, but its creation was interrupted." Murphy explained, "This may be bumpy."  
That didn't sound right. In a panic, I looked around. I spotted the seats, and noticed they had seat-belts. Immediately, I ran to sit on one of those seats and fastened the seat-belt.  
"Best idea you've had all day." Saya said, and followed my example.  
Merlin sat next to Saya, but looked at his seat from left to right.  
"How does this thing work?"  
Saya started explaining to him how to put on a seat-belt, just when we made it to that portal. Looking at it, I saw what Murphy meant with it being unstable. Bolts of lightning seemed to flash constantly, which it never did before. I don't know if Murphy was scared of this at all or not. But even if he was, it didn't stop him. He flew through the portal.

**THE END**


End file.
